This is Turmeric, Walnut, and Sweet Chili Sauce Omelet with Sunflower Seeds. What more can I say. Delicious. Finished it off with a peanut butter and honey slice of 7 grain French Bread. And coffee. Had 2 glasses of water when I first got up, to clean out the system and get everything flowing again. If you do nothing else to help yourself in this life, drink at least two cups of water when you get up and before everything and wait as long as you can before eating (for me that’s usually about half an hour). You will be amazed.

And turmeric (curcumin)? What is that all about? I’ve covered this before, but it’s worth doing it again. If you could have only two spices left in the world, make one of them Turmeric. But one word of caution. normally buy the powdered form in the food store, and not turmeric or curcumin in pill form or as additives to other medicines due to the possibility of other additives which are not regulated.

SO? Well, for one thing, if you ever have diarrhea, put one teaspoon of it in a glass of water. No, don’t just leave it there. Drink it. Has worked wonders for many. Want some testimony? http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/diarrhea4.html Of course, the other possibility is mixing 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water. By the way, if you ever want to check out hundreds of home remedies with lots of eye witness accounts… http://www.earthclinic.com/  If you want to know what everyone else has used turmeric for, search for it on the link. The list is so long, I’ll just say that whatever is bothering you, try turmeric. Except for your partner leaving you. But who knows. Amazing stuff.  And if you want a very good, condensed treatment of what it may be able to do for you, check out World’s Healthiest Foods http://whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=78 which discusses the following: Anti-inflammatory, helps in rheumatoid arthritis,  cystic fibrosis,  cancer prevention,  childhood leukemia,  liver functioning, cardiovascular protection,  lowering of cholesterol, Alzheimer’s disease. You get the idea.

This is what it looks like – lettuce, tomato, kashkaval cheese, sliced onion, veggie-burger on a mayonnaised sesame roll. BUT, the important part is the Za’atar.  This is a middle-eastern flavor and health additive on which we in the West are lagging far behind. There are just some things we need to catch up on. Za’atar is generally prepared using ground dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, or some combination thereof, mixed with toasted sesame seeds, and salt. Some varieties may add savory, cumin, coriander or fennel seed. A Lebanese variety of Za’atar usually contains sumac berries, and has a distinct dark red color.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Za’atar

I will concentrate on the thyme and sesame seeds.

Thyme: A good source of vitamin K, iron, and some manganese. It is an antibacterial and antifungal spice, and as suggested by whfoods.com is excellent as a safeguard on salads. http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=77

Sesame seeds: Has significant amounts of copper, manganese, tryptophan, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin B1 (thiamin) with all of their attendant benefits for health. http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=84 a video showing the making of pitas with za’atar gives another use for it.

And then there is the apple salad. And the apple salad with raisins is exactly what it looks like, but the salient feature here is the cinnamon in honey – added separately while standing over the salad. Cinnamon at World’s Healthiest Foods: http://whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=68

Benefits of Cinnamon and Honey 

A very thoughtful article on the benefits of cinnamon, honey and dark chocolate with sources: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/08/03/food-for-thought-health-benefits-of-cinnamon-raw-honey-and-dark-chocolate/ Also, see
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/vinegar-and-honey.html23 Apple Cider Vinegar and Honey: Remedy for Arthritis. For information on arthritis, see Sandra Fierling’s site: http://arthritisreviews.com/

And to round out this discussion of cinnamon and honey, the following is apparently taken from a 1995 edition of Weekly World News, a Canadian magazine which is apparently no longer in publication. References not checked. The information may be enlightening for the sake of discussion on the uses of cinnamon and honey: http://www.angelfire.com/az/sthurston/honeyandcinnamon.html

Dicing An Apple
One additional feature is the speed cut on the apple. Do this while it is lying on the board. Do not do this by chopping while it is in your hand. This is, of course, the natural tendency. Fast and efficient – way to cut into your hand or even through – either because the apple is softer than you thought, it is rotten in the middle, you start thinking about other things – yes, it happens, even while cutting an apple – and miss, or the cat jumps up, or any number of 10,000 other possibilities.  There is no replacement for a good hand, as good as the prosthetics are getting these days – and not to mention the training you have to go through! Think about it – just not worth it. Of course, once the apple has been successfully cut both ways, just slice around the core.

Do not suddenly change burners
Logically you know that if you go from a smaller to a larger burner on the stove, it will take less time – far less time – to cook, the cooking pattern on the bottom of pancakes, eggs, etc is different, the size of the pans can be bigger meaning that the thickness of whatever is in the pan is thinner. In other words, things burn faster. Well, that is what happened with this pancake which is why you do not see the other side. You, of course, know all of this, but subconsciously you’re working with the old timing on the smaller flame and doing things as normal at the sink when everything is anything but normal on the stove. It takes a whole new psychological mind set and if you are not in a mood to deal with that early in the morning, stick with the old burner.

Live to 100+ Pancake
This is health in a cake with flour, egg, brewer’s yeast, walnuts, raisins, honey, and cinnamon. With butter and syrup, this was one of the best pancakes I have ever tasted – ignoring the charcoal on the other side. To add even more years, grind amaranth and quinoa and add it instead of about half of the flour. Or use a whole grain flour.
Rules for cooking without measuring instruments.
1. Put more of everything except for liquid, hot or bitter spices, leavening.
2. Always leave flour, or whatever ingredient absorbs liquid, in reserve. DO NOT use the last of it – ever.
3. Constantly check cooking process.
4. General procedure: Mix a small amount of liquid and add absorbent until you get a sort of thick paste. Then continue this until you have all of the ingredients in and you have the consistency you desire.
5. Calculate that the thicker the end consistency, the shorter time it takes to cook.
6. Certain spices have specific effects on the body and this should be kept in mind by those on specific medications. For instance, cinnamon has the effect of thinning the blood and this should be noted by those who are on blood thinning medications.

OR go out and buy some measuring instruments and do not use my recipes.
Actually, to use the right nomenclature, my food preparations are not recipes, they are concoctions.

Cooking Way Too Much

It appears that I think in twos, threes, even crowds. I find that cooking for one is very difficult. Which is why my freezer is full and I am putting on weight. Fixing a single portion never seems to be enough of any one of the ingredients. Until you get them together and then its too late. Like this one which took going back for mammoth seconds just to finish it off.  

  RCEPO
Red cabbage, egg plant, onion, cooked in a small amount of olive oil and water, with more added as needed. Was going to have a salad, but instead, I threw in a frozen sprig of broc and a pea (not visible – my attempt to keep it to a single serving). Served on a bed of couscous. Rice will do fine, but couscous is ready in 2 minutes with some boiling hot water only. And the sauce: Teaspoon of mild sweet chili, half tsp each of honey, soy sauce, thyme, oriental cumin, cayenne pepper, and oregano, salt to taste.